A crucial step in driving consistently around a track is being able to find and utilize reference points. Reference points are simply things on the track that you can easily find again and again that tell you where your turn in, apex, and track out points are. Sounds simple enough, but it can take longer than you’d think to find suitable reference points to let you be consistent. The most important thing to remember is that THERE IS NO WRONG REFERENCE POINT. By that I mean any reference point that YOU can find and use is the best reference point for you. If there is a dead fly right at an apex and you can spot it on every lap, that is a better reference point than a giant boulder that you never see.

Consistency Rules
Reference points are the key to being consistent because they provide a definitive measurement of where to make your inputs. Going by “feel” will get you close, but virtually everyone will benefit from the extra refinement of having a solid point at which to make any given input. Even the top-level pros are constantly scanning for and using reference points everywhere. Particularly as your speed increases, feel becomes a less and less precise measure of where to make your inputs.

Finding Reference Points
So how do you go about finding a reference point? First, get your line down, or at least pretty close to where you want it to be. Then look at where your turn in, apex, and track out points are and look for something unique that catches your eye at that point. At most track days, there will coveniently be a cone place at or close to where you should be at these points. Use the cones as a baseline and adjust according.

What if there is nothing right where you need it? This can happen more often than you’d imagine, particularly on freshly paved tracks where there are few irregularities anywhere. Or the side of the track could just be so dirty that there are too many points to adequately pick one out consistently. In these cases, look for a solid reference point near where you’d like it to be, and then adjust accordingly - i.e., if there is a great mark on the curbing 5 feet in front of your apex point, simply use that mark but aim 5 feet in front of it. While not the ideal scenario, it is definitely better than having no reference point at all.

Pick Permanent Features When Possible
I learned the hard way that it is always best to pick a reference point that is a permanent feature of the track. Going into the Bowl at NHMS, I had always used the very well placed cones to gauge making braking and turn in points. Then one track day, they were gone! Now I was literally going into the Bowl blind, and I was extremely inconsistent until I found some features of the track to use. Cones can also change lap to lap. All it takes is one car to get a little to close and then that great reference point at your apex is several feet away.

Reference Points for Big Corners
Small, text book style corners really just require a reference point for braking, turn in, apex, and track out. They are all visible, and there isn’t much to be gained by having a train of reference points all through the corner. The same is not true with long, sweeping corners, or blind corners where you cannot see all the way through to your track out. In these cases, it can be helpful to have some sort of reference point in the middle of the track, to ensure that you are putting your car exactly where you want. At The Glen, the sweeping right hander through Radiuses 8 and 9 is a great example of this. You are totally blind to the apex going in, and it take you a while to slowly work your way through the corner. Here it can be helpful to have a reference point in the middle of the track, to gauge how tight you are making the corner. This helps alert you to an early apex situation sooner, which then gives you more time to fix it.